AN international fast food company has apologised after The Press found customers were being shortchanged by their meal deals.

“Foot-long” sandwiches were bought from three Subway outlets in York – in Pavement, Clifford Street and Feasegate – and from the Gowthorpe shop in Selby.

While the sandwiches from the Selby shop, and the outlets in Clifford Street and Pavement all measured the full 12 inches, the sandwich from the Feasegate store was a full inch short, measuring only 11 inches.

A spokeswoman for Subway said: “For 47 years, customer satisfaction has been our top priority.

“We regret any instance where we did not fully deliver on our promise to our customers.

“We freshly bake our bread throughout the day in our more than 38,000 restaurants in 100 countries worldwide, and we have redoubled our efforts to ensure consistency and correct length in every sandwich we serve.

“Our commitment remains steadfast to ensure that every Subway Foot-long sandwich is 12 inches at each location worldwide.”

Recently, an online media frenzy was caused after Matt Corby posted a photo of a foot-long sandwich he had bought from his local Subway in Australia, next to a measuring tape which showed it was only 11 inches long, and asking the company to respond.

The image, which spread on Facebook and Twitter, received thousands of “likes” and re-tweets from around the world, with many customers posting their own, similar pictures.

The company responded to Mr Corby’s picture, informing him the bread was “not baked to our standards”.

As of last week, there were three lawsuits pending against Subway in America, seeking more than five million dollars, or about £3.2 million, on the grounds of false advertising.